Organisation: Cinema Golau
Project title: Windrush Caribbean Film Festival
Short bio of your organisation:
Cinema Golau exists to support Black and Minority Ethnic filmmakers who are born or based in wales. We do this through cinema exhibition, industry events, and one to one support for filmmakers and those working in the industry.
Short synopsis of your project:
Our project screened films from the African Caribbean community, both here and abroad, recognising the contributions of the Windrush community in the uk. We also make a space for film made by filmmakers in wales of Afro/Caribbean decent.
Project overview
Why the project matters
We are developing an audience that celebrates and consumes films from Africa, the Caribbean and filmmakers from this background, to enjoys stories and cultures which some may have little knowledge of even if they themselves come from a similar background. Newport and Cardiff and South Wales generally has strong African/Caribbean communities but they do not have many designated spaces to celebrate their cultural identity and invite their non Caribbean friend to celebrate and learn about their culture.
Aims
Our project is important because we have a significant Caribbean community in Wales and The Windrush Caribbean Film Festival (WCCF) seeks to engage and educate audiences about the contributions of the Windrush generation and their descendants in the broadest sense to through film screenings, talkbacks, interviews, and workshops.
Headline results
Excellent audience for opening night and the afterparty.
Good youth engagement.
Good attendance to the workshops.
Films
ALL OF THEM. I never show a film I do not believe in. See the programme here.
Key partnerships
- Urban Circle – providing support from local youth interested in the creative industries helping us to attract a young audience.
- Windrush Caribbean Film Festival (UK) – Providing a UK wide reach in marketing the event and by providing programming collaborations and support.
- Riverfront Art Centre Newport – supporting is with event space, in kind support of staff and marketing the event
- Newport Council – Marketing and audience development and raising awareness
- Black History Wales – providing us with links to elder community
Budget
£11,000 which includes £4,000 in-kind
Learning outcomes
What worked
Raising awareness of the variety of films and stories available to the Windrush community reaching out an audience that joined us simply because the films were appealing.
Bringing Don Letts (Big Audio Dynamite) (Radio 6 music) to open his Auto-biographical film ‘Rebel Dread’ with a Q and A with Aleighca Scott.
Having Alex D Great do workshops.
What didn’t work
I didn’t have enough people on the ground who understood how festivals work, the consistency needed and the fact that it is very hard work, I had people wandering around and not really understanding the importance of what they were doing.
Marketing and promotion was too late, the young people were not as engaged with the project as they could have been from an earlier date.
What you’d do differently if you did it again
Longer lead, provide more industry talks. More specialists talk on film e.g. archive film Animation.
Impact
Awareness & attitudes
Many audience members were impressed with our ability to connect our them with the social and cultural aspects of what it is to be of Caribbean and British heritage, this was represented through documentary, comedy and animation. the and contemporary filmmaking. Many children of mixed heritage have no connection with the Caribbean ancestry and were attending the screening in order to learn about the history and culture through film.
Diversity
The Caribbean audiences from the local communities in Cardiff and Newport have never been targeted for a film festival. We targeted local audiences from diverse backgrounds as a priority
Knowledge & experience
Yes we share knowledge and experiences through curating, and interdisciplinary practise, such as photography exhibitions, political song writing, q and a’s
Resources
https://windrushfilmfestival.com/about-windrush-caribbean-film-festival/
